June, 04 2020, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Hannah Connor, Center for Biological Diversity, (202) 681-1676, hconnor@biologicaldiversity.org
Jackie Filson, Food & Water Watch, (202) 683-2538, jfilson@fwwatch.org
Court Rejects Meatpacker's Efforts to Kill Lawsuit Over Slaughterhouse Pollution in South Platte River
DENVER, CO
A federal district court in Colorado has blocked efforts by the JBS-Swift Beef Company to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Food & Water Watch to stop illegal discharges of slaughterhouse pollution into Colorado's South Platte River.
The court's ruling, which was filed late Wednesday, comes in the wake of President Trump's executive order that slaughterhouses are to remain open as "critical infrastructure." In recent weeks COVID-19 outbreaks and worker-safety concerns have closed more than a dozen slaughterhouses across the country, including the Greeley Plant where at least 280 workers have tested positive and seven have died of COVID-19.
"The court rightly refused to allow JBS-Swift Beef to walk away from the evidence it has been illegally discharging slaughterhouse pollution for years," said Hannah Connor, an attorney at the Center. "The fact this lawsuit is moving forward is good news for Colorado residents and wildlife that depend on clean water in the South Platte River."
The lawsuit, filed in May 2019, argues that JBS-Swift Beef's Lone Tree Wastewater Treatment Facility has for years been discharging slaughterhouse pollution that violates Clean Water Act toxicity standards into a tributary of the South Platte River.
"We're glad that the court rejected JBS' attempt to avoid accountability for years of water pollution violations and look forward to having the opportunity to prove our case," said Tarah Heinzen, an attorney with Food & Water Watch.
The facility treats slaughterhouse wastewater from the JBS-Swift Beef slaughter plant in Greeley, Colo. The waste products generated by the plant include animal fat, blood, meat, dangerous bacteria, ammonia and excrement. The beef plant also processes and preserves animal hides, creating waste loaded with salt. These pollutants can harm human health and kill fish and other aquatic life.
"As the court recognized, until JBS fixes its pollution problem, the case will continue," said Neil Levine, an attorney at Public Justice.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting JBS-Swift Beef Company from continuing to violate the terms of the Lone Tree Plant's Clean Water Act permit and requiring that the company take all necessary measures to prevent future violations.
The organizations are represented by Public Justice, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization, and in-house counsel.
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
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Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Tuesday again blocked the passage of House-approved bipartisan legislation meant to shield journalists and telecommunications companies from being compelled to disclose sources and other information to federal authorities.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) brought the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act—which would prohibit the federal government from forcing journalists and telecom companies to disclose certain information, with exceptions for terroristic or violent threats—for a unanimous consent vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) argued Tuesday that passing the PRESS Act is "more important now than ever before when we've heard some in the previous administration talk about going after the press in one way or another," a reference to Republican President-elect Donald Trump's threats to jail journalists who refuse to reveal the sources of leaks. Trump, who has referred to the press as the "enemy of the people," repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to "kill this bill."
Cotton, who blocked a vote on the legislation in December 2022, again objected to the bill, a move that thwarted its speedy passage. The Republican called the legislation a "threat to national security" and "the biggest giveaway to the liberal press in American history."
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
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Reed also highlighted Dhillon's attacks on state laws protecting transgender people, as well as her expression of "extreme anti-trans views" on social media—including calling gender-affirming healthcare for trans children "child abuse."
Last year, The Guardian's Jason Wilson reported that the Center for American Liberty made a six-figure payment to a public relations firm that represented Dhillion in both "her capacity as head of her own for-profit law firm and Republican activist."
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